JOLIET, Ill. – A record turnout filled classrooms around Joliet Junior College on Saturday, as the Commitment to Training wrapped up its 2016 series of one-day training events.
Nearly 190 automotive professionals in both mechanical and collision repair attended the day of training at the Chicagoland campus. Many attendees recognized the value of the training following their attendance at Automechanika Chicago 2015, and wanted to take part in the courses offered to them at no cost through manufacturer sponsorship.
Such was the case for Richard Martens and Lisa Martens own Ron’s Auto Repair Center in Ames, Iowa, who attended the training to earn AMi credits, including those offered for Mike Anderson’s “Financial Best Practices.”
“I’ve been to a lot of financial training that’s pretty vague, but he was really explicit,” she said. “He has tons and tons of good information.”
While some of the messaging was directed at collision shops, it was easy to relate the material to their mechanical repair business. Richard added that when his course, “Auto EHS Best Practices” ended, he was able to join Anderson’s class and realized the possibilities that exist to partner with collision shops and boost business through processes like programming.
Anderson, who also delivered the day’s keynote address, was one of six industry-leading instructors educating the technicians, owners and managers. Other trainers were John Thornton, G. Jerry Truglia, Chris Chesney, Charlie Ayers and Pete Meier. The trainers saw several professionals from individual shops as well as businesses that brought nearly their entire staff to the training.
Tristan Realubit owns Real Autohaus Automotive in Westmont, Ill., and brought two of his technicians, Trevor Silberhorn and Eric Torres, with him. Realubit stresses training and ASE certification to his employees.
“I see a lot of value in training, because when I started my business, I didn’t have any formal training,” he said. “When I started going to training, the way I viewed the automotive industry grew. There are a lot of ‘ah-ha moments’ (with training). You cannot compare it to reading something online or going to school. It’s hands on and practical.”
Realubit is instilling that passion for learning into Silberhorn and Torres, both of whom are still relatively new to the industry. Silberhorn said being able to sit in on classes, like “How to Diagnose P0420s & P0430s” with Truglia, was a great experience to just learn tips and tricks to use back in the shop.
That learning is one of the main goals of the Commitment to Training. The one-day event at Joliet Junior College was the third event, with previous one-day trainings held earlier in 2016 at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wis. The one-day trainings center around NACE Automechanika Chicago, which will be July 26-29, 2017, at McCormick Place West. Registration is open for the event, which features mechanical training at no cost.
The Commitment to Training is made possible by support from manufacturer sponsors Carquest Technical Institute, Delphi, Abaris Training, Mitchell 1, PPG, Polyvance, Pico Technology, Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket, Mitchell International, Motor Age Training, Axalta, Garmat USA and GFS.
Sponsors and event supporters also provided giveaways for attendees and raffle prizes. Winners of raffle prizes were Ruben Hernandez, $250 Snap-on gift card presented by Mitchell 1; Debra Cushing, Carquest Technical Institute one-year subscription to regional training; Mike Pfeffer, $150 gift certificate for AMi online mechanical training; Kelly Ardan, $150 gift certificate for AMi online collision training; Noe Tellez, complimentary registration to The TST Big Event; David Morales, ASE B Series Study Guide from Motor Age Training; and Mark Laughlin, ASE A Series Study Guide from Motor Age Training.
